Trump team lashes out after he’s ordered to appear for sentencing in hush-money case before inauguration: Live – UK Times

Inga Parkel has the story.

In an 18-page ruling released on Friday, Acting Justice Juan Merchan said he would not sentence Trump to a term of incarceration but would instead impose “a sentence of unconditional discharge” – meaning a sentence of no jail time, probation or fines – as “the most viable solution” and permit Trump to continue to appeal the case.

Sentencing, which Trump’s lawyers tried to fight on the grounds of immunity, will occur just 10 days before the president-elect is inaugurated.

Andrew Feinberg and Ariana Baio report.

As concerns about outbreaks of bird flu and the nation’s response continue to grow, the Biden administration announced Friday that it would ramp up spending to support its efforts.

There are currently 66 confirmed human cases reported across 10 states, with the majority reported in California and Colorado. Of the dozens, one case in Louisiana marked the nation’s first severe illness from the virus, which likely mutated inside the patient. However, there has not yet been human-to-human transmission of H5N1.

Trump is determined to cut taxes for Americans but doing so means the government will need to cut federal spending elsewhere, or risk raising the national debt by trillions of dollars.

Ariana Baio takes a look.

Vice President-elect JD Vance took to X to call an op-ed by Elon Musk in Die Welt explaining his support for the far-right German party Alternative for Germany (AfD) “interesting.”

Musk shared a post on X by Martin Varsavsky, who posted what he said was the article submitted by Musk to the German paper. The AfD is a far-right populist, eurosceptic party that opposes immigration and has called for mass deportations.

The owner of the Los Angeles Times reportedly considered launching a conservative version of the daytime talk show The View and met with comedian and anti-vaccine advocate Rob Schneider and the wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., actor Cheryl Hines, to discuss it.

Ariana Baio has the story.

So far, he’s already promised to take action on 59 different issues “on Day One,” according to an Axios analysis of pledges made on the campaign trail.

The key MAGA issues he promised to address are closing the border, pardoning the January 6 Capitol riot prisoners, and rolling back protections for transgender students.

The Independent has contacted Trump’s team seeking clarity on the issues he will tackle first.

Here are some of the promises the president-elect made.

President Joe Biden on Friday invoked a rarely-used presidential power to prevent the Japanesesteel giant Nippon Steel from purchasing the United States Steel Corporation, citing the $14.1 billion deal’s potential consequences to American national security after a year-long review process.

The long-awaited decision to prohibit the transition, which would have placed America’s largest steel-making enterprise under foreign control, blocks Nippon Steel and its’ American affiliates from any attempt to acquire control of the Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel.

Although Trump declared in a Truth Social post Thursday that the U.S. is “breaking down” with violence, blaming the current administration’s “open borders,” data shows that rates of violent crime and murder actually plummeted in 2024.

Mike Johnson has become speaker of the House after a dramatic delay caused by a handful of insurgent Republicans who revolted against him during the first vote of the 119th Congress.

Johnson ultimately earned the vote of 218 Republicans, the bare minimum needed to win the speaker’s gavel, after discussions with two holdouts — Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Keith Self of Texas — who ended up flipping their votes at the last moment. According to CNN, Trump called both lawmakers while the voting was still open and urged them to throw their weight behind Johnson.

Thomas Massie, the idiosyncratic libertarian Republican from Kentucky, led the opposition against Johnson, voting instead for House Majority Whip Tom Emmer. Norman initially voted for Jim Jordan of Ohio, and Self voted for Byron Donalds of Florida.

Eric Garcia reports from Capitol Hill.